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I. Introduction (194 words)

Highlands Coffee originated from a business of packaged coffee in Hanoi in 2000 and started
expanding its famous chain of coffee shops since 2002 (Highlands Coffee n.d.). According to
Euromonitor (2022), Highlands has been holding one fifth of the total brand share – the largest
in 2021 – in Vietnamese Cafés/Bars category, also the highest number of stores (Statista
2021).

Figure 1: GBN Brand Shares in Chained Cafes/Bars: % Figure 2: Leading coffee shop chains in Vietnam
Foodservice Value 2018-2021 by Euromonitor 2022 in 2021, by number of stores by Statista 2021

This paper will analyze situational factors at Highlands Coffee shop on Bau Cat Street (Tan
Binh District) that affect customers’ behavior. Firstly, Highlands Coffee mainly targets the
segment below:

Segment Geographic Demographic Psychographic Behavioral

Trendy Urban Age: 18-55 years Lifestyle: Benefit
people who old drinking-coffee sought: a
love high- Nationality: both habit or place to

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‘coffeeholic’; meet friends;
Vietnamese and prefer noisy and or work all
foreigners exciting day
Income: middle atmosphere; love
quality
and high income elegant and Occasion: in
coffee with
Occupation: modern the morning
reasonable
university/college café/restaurants or evening
price
students; office Personality: after work
workers modern, energetic,
creative, active,
and outgoing

Figure 3: Highlands Coffee launching new product line mainly focuses on the energetic young
generation by Highlands Coffee n.d.

Figure 4: Highlands Coffee is an ideal place for meeting friends by Highlands Coffee n.d.
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II. Analysis about Situational Influences (923 words)
This Highlands Coffee shop primarily bases on Purchase and Communication situations to
influence consumers.

Purchase situation
1. Physical surroundings
The coffee shop locates on the corner of two bustle streets which is easily recognized and
accessible. It has wide area for customers to park motorbikes, and even cars (Appendix 1)
which is an advantage for Highlands compared to other nearby cafés (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Map of Bau Cat Street, Tan Binh District by Google Map 2022

The interior of the coffee shop is painted consistent with the colors of its iconic logo, which is
proudly called the ‘harmonious connection’ (Highlands Coffee 2018). Products are also
displayed neatly and colorful that create a vibrant atmosphere when customers step into

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(Figure 6). Besides, to help customers escape from the hot climate and feel relaxed, the café is
fully air-conditioned, also covered by many wide glass windows and yellow lights to brighten
the space. Many decorative plants are also placed indoor to influence more positively to
customers’ purchase decisions, compared to café lacking plants (Yildirim, Kaya & Olmus
2020).

Figure 6: Product display at Highlands Coffee

Addition to the attractive interior, famous pop songs with fast melody are always played in
medium volume to create an animated but not too noisy atmosphere, so that customers can
feel cheery and energetic while their work and conversations are not distracted. A study of

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Roballey et al (1985) also indicated music having fast melody can raise 70% of efficiency and
lower 50% of fatigue; hence, customers could be “healed”, and they may come to Highlands
more often.

2. Social surroundings
Customers at Highlands Coffee mostly come by groups such as friends and colleagues for
chatting. On weekends, this is a perfect place where families come, have drink and dessert,
and relax after a busy week since it is cool and not too crowded. Furthermore, many
customers work individually in the café, which could create a motivation for other people to
bring laptop to Highlands, buy a drink, and work all day. (Figure 7)

Figure 7: Customers usually come in groups such as friends and colleagues, and in individual
working independently at Highlands Coffee

3. Temporal perspectives
Purchasing drinks at Highlands Coffee is suitable for customers, especially office workers, who
have limited time in the morning since it also sells take-away products (Figure 8). The café is

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not crowded at that time and staff preparation is quick. This means they do not need to wait for
long queue for a drink. Moreover, customers may not consider much about price and location
since this café is famous for high-quality coffee, reasonable price, and convenient location.
Regarding seasonal products, on last Mid-autumn Festival, Highlands launches many sets of
mooncakes. This could save time for customers when they can buy coffee and mooncake at
the same time. And the good point was that customers buying Highlands’ mooncakes on 17-28
Figure 8: An officer is ordering for take-away drink in the early morning
August on Tiki and Lazada could receive 20% discount (Highlands 2021), so Highlands can
encourage customer quicker purchase and boost sales even in lockdown-period (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Highlands Coffee’s promotion for mooncakes by Highlands Coffee

(2021)

4. Task definition
Many customers visit Highlands to have a full meal with food (Banh Mi and small cakes) and
drinks, especially in the morning when they want to drink coffee and have breakfast in the
same place. Because of the variety products, Highlands Coffee also attracts individuals, such
as university students and officers, finding a place to work independently whole day.
Moreover, on Mid-autumn Festival, with vivid and luxury mooncake boxes, many customers
purchase them for gift-giving or for families eating together.

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5. Antecedent status
Customers tend to purchase coffee when they feel stressed, sleepy and procrastinatory.
According to a Nutrition Doctor – Glade (2010), coffee, which contains caffeine, can wake
people up, accelerate energy levels, leading to the escalation of focus ability and problem-
solving skill, thus the overall performance. Therefore, Highlands Coffee could help eliminate
these negative conditions and enhance the positive ones. Moreover, food is also available in
the café for customers who are hungry.

Communication situation
1. Physical surroundings
Inside the coffee shop, an LCD screen is placed behind the order-desk showing sales
promotion and brand’s campaigns (Figure 10) to draw customers’ attention. A survey
(Appendix 2) also supported that the appearance of promotion TV makes customers spend
more than they thought, thus accelerates sales. Besides, information about discounts and
coupons are provided on its website and other social platforms (Figure 11), and especially on
the recently launching mobile application to encourage installation (Figure 12).

Figure 10: An LCD screen displaying promotion events and

special campaigns of Highlands Coffee
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Figure 11: Highlands Coffee official website and social platforms (Facebook and
Instagram) by Highlands Coffee 2022

Figure 12: Highlands encourages mobile app installation by giving coupon 50%
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However, there is no advertising banners or posters outside the café to show Highlands
campaigns and promotions. There is only a large old billboard hanging up so high that
consumers may not be aware of it. (Figure 13)

Figure 13: Old billboard outside of Highlands Coffee

2. Social surroundings
Staff at Highlands Coffee shop are well-trained that they always keep eye contact with
customers while ordering and politely answer their concerns, such as promotions and best-
seller, with gentle voice (Figure 14). Hence, this could improve customer satisfaction since it
positively connects with employees’ friendly attitude (Alhelalat, Habiballah & Twaissi 2017).

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Figure 14: Highlands’ staff is talking with customers

Besides, Highlands Coffee organized an online contest for people from 18 years old to create
the best name for their “Intimate Customer Programme”. Specifically, the name which is voted
the most would receive a special gift up to 35M VND, there are also prizes for the second and
the third winners (Figure 15). Furthermore, people who voted for the candidates on
Highlands’s contest website could also have a chance to receive prizes (Highlands Coffee
n.d.). Every candidate and people voting are required to give personal information which is the
potential sources for Highlands’ marketers to analyze and further reach their customers (Perry
2021). The contest also helps boost engagement from audience due to valuable prizes, which
increases the communication of consumers about the brand and makes it more memorable.

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Figure 15: Contest ‘Giving name for the Intimate Customer Programme’ of Highlands Coffee by
Highlands Coffee 2021

III. Recommendation (76 words)

Having outdoor advertising
To recommend, marketers of Highlands Coffee could have outdoor advertising like banner,
poster, or simply replace the old billboard with a new one which is more creative and colorful to
attract customers attention (Figure 16). The more creative advertising, the more memorable to
consumer (Wilson, Baack & Till 2015), so Highlands can approach more people. Jurca and
Madlberger (2015) also affirmed that outdoor advertising could enhance outlook of customers
on the brand, thus the long-run sales.

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Figure 16: Promotion posters in The Coffee House by DiadiemDanang.vn (n.d.)

Appendices
Appendix 1: Highlands Coffee – Convenient location by Quynh 2022. LINK VIDEO

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Appendix 2: Promotion TV boost actual customer sales by Nordfält et al. (2014)

References
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Highlands Coffee 2021, Promotion for Mooncake, photo, Highlands Coffee Facebook
Homepage, viewed 17 March 2022,
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